Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Kirtland’s Warbler
The Kirtland’s Warbler is a very rare warbler that almost became extinct 50 years ago. It is blue-gray above, lemon-yellow below, has black streaks on its sides, and white crescents above and below the eye. Males have black from the base of the bill to the eye. Females are similar but with no black on the face, and less brightly colored than males. Kirtland’s Warblers can be seen ‘pumping’ their tails as they look for food.
Kirtland’s Warblers breed only in a very small area in the US. They nest in Jack Pine forests in Michigan, Wisconsin and lower Ontario. This species winters mainly in the Bahamas, on the islands of Eleuthera, Cat Island, Long Island and San Salvador. Its migration has been tracked using tiny light sensitive tags called geolocators. Learn more here.
The Kirtland’s Warbler feeds on insects and fruit. In the winter, they are microhabitat specialists. They can be found in coppice and scrub habitats with large amounts of Black Torch, Wild Sage and Snowberry shrubs. These are some of their favorite fruits to eat. Kirkland’s Warblers can be hard to spot during the winter, they tend to hide in dense vegetation.
Kirtland’s Warbler was one of the first species to be placed on the North American Endangered Species list. In 1974 there were only 170 pairs. The decline of this bird was caused by loss of breeding habitat and nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds. Extensive conservation work is ongoing to provide nesting habitat and control cowbird numbers. Thanks to this effort there are now over 2,300 pairs, and in 2019, the species was delisted. Research on Kirkland’s Warbler in The Bahamas has helped boost both local and international conservation. The Kirtland’s Warbler Research and Training Project trained Bahamian students in field research, ecology, and conservation. Many of these students have gone on to become conservationists in The Bahamas. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Kirtland’s Warbler!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Kirtland’s Warbler
The calls of the Kirtland’s Warbler are a repeated short “Chip”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Male Kirtland’s Warbler. He is blue-gray above, lemon-yellow below, with some black in front of his eye. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)Female Kirtland’s Warbler, she is very similar to the male but less brightly colored. Both males and females have a white ‘broken’ eye-ring. These Warblers specialise in breeding in jack pines. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
Take a walk and see if you can spot a migratory warblers. Unless you are in the Bahamas you might not see a Kirtland’s Warbler but see what other migratory birds you can find. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the video of the handsome male Kirtland’s Warbler. He is in his jack pine habitat on the breeding grounds. In the video you can hear him singing!
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Barn Swallow
The medium-sized Barn Swallow gets its name from its nesting habits. Although they originally used caves, they have shifted to nesting mostly in barns and other human-made structures. Groups of swallows will all use the same building. Birds build mud nests attached to walls. This strong connection with humans has made it one of the most familiar and well-studied swallows.
Barn Swallows have glossy steel-blue upperparts and crown, chestnut to white underparts, and a chestnut forehead and throat. The long tail is deeply forked with white spots. Males and females have similar plumage, but females and immature birds are duller and have shorter tail streamers. They often line up in large flocks on overhead wires with their long forked tails sticking out.
Barn Swallows have the widest distribution of any swallow in the world. They are long-distance migrants, traveling in huge flocks and covering up to 11,000 km (6,800 mi) on migration. In the Americas, they breed in North America and spend the winter in Central and South America. Some birds pass through the Caribbean on fall and spring migration. Thus, you are most likely to spot them here during migration, but a few birds overwinter.
Like many swifts and swallows, these striking birds are masters of flight! The swoop and turn, flying fast over wetlands and fields, catching mosquitoes and other tiny flying insects. This flight pattern can make them difficult to identify, especially since they are often seen in mixed-species flocks with other swallows during migration. Just keep an eye out for that deep fork in the tail!Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Barn Swallow!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Barn Swallow
The calls of the Barn Swallow can be a loud “cheep” and a thin mechanical sounding “chit”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Barn Swallow perched. You can see the glossy steel-blue upperparts and crown, and reddish chestnut forehead and throat. You might see many together, perched in a line, on a fence or on overhead wires (Photo by Daniel W. Glenn)Barn Swallow in flight. You can see the chestnut tint to the underpart and white spots on the tail. Barn Swallows are masters of flight and catch their food on the wing, as this bird is doing! (Photo by Ray Robles)Barn Swallow, with deeply forked tail. This Swallow has caught a bee to eat. (Photo by Bernie Duhamel)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Barn Swallows cover a huge area of the Americas over the course of a year. They spend the summer breeding in the north and winter further south. Find out more about this wide-ranging bird in this fascinating fact-sheet! FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk, remember to look up! And see if you can spot a Barn Swallow or any of our other migratory birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the video below of a Barn Swallow perched on a fence. When they are not hunting for food on the wing this species can often be seen perched on twigs, fences and overheard wires.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
BirdsCaribbean has been collaborating with Birding the Islands Ltd for the last two years, offering outstanding birding tours to the Lesser Antilles. Now, we are thrilled to announce that from 2022 a new partner will be joining us as we expand our offerings to include a fresh, innovative selection of trips. We have teamed up with Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing to offer you the chance to escape the everyday—through one-of-a-kind birding and yoga trips to some of the most beautiful and rejuvenating islands in the Caribbean. Read on to learn more about both aspects of the trip!
We specialize in providing a range of well-being offerings including in-person and online yoga classes, energetic healing practices and heart-centered yoga holidays. BirdsCaribbean’s mission is to: “raise awareness, promotesound science, and empower local partners to build a region where people appreciate, conserve and benefit from thriving bird populations and ecosystems.” Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing aims to help you to “find your true direction” in life by raising your awareness and appreciation of your own divine nature; promoting the ancient sciences of Yoga and energetic healing practices such as Reiki, Nada Yoga and Shamanic Healing; and empowering you to bring the benefits of these profound practices into your daily life in order to conserve your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being within the ecosystem of your own body.
Founder Alex Chenery
Our founder, Alex Chenery, who will be co-leading our trips through the islands, is an RYT®200 yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance; Usui Reiki Master; Nada Yoga & Yoga Nidra Facilitator; Restorative & Yin Yoga Teacher; Adaptive, Trauma-Informed & Chair Yoga Facilitator; Pregnancy, Post-Natal & Mother and Baby Yoga Teacher; and Shamanic Practitioner.
“I’m extremely excited about embarking on this new adventure with two partners who share my love of the natural world. Our collective intention for you during these trips, is that you truly and deeply experience that beautiful connection with nature, and take a step down the life-changing path towards finding a way back to your true authentic self.” – Alex Chenery
Experience the therapeutic benefits of practicing yoga in nature…
Our inaugural heart-centered yoga and nature tour ‘Back to Nature…Back to Yourself’ departs in March 2022. We will be inviting you to discover the natural, cultural, and historical treasures of St. Lucia, Dominica and Barbados, while taking time to re-center and absorb these experiences with a variety of daily yoga and well-being practices.
During this epic 10-day adventure, we will take inspiration from the islands to rebalance our vital energies through practices designed to free you from your inhibitions—and give you that ‘aaahhhh oooohhhh mmmm’ (OM) feeling!
Alex Practicing Yoga in Nature
We will take our yoga practice into the heart of Dominica’s lush tropical forests to connect with the primal energy of our Sacral chakra; to the lofty windswept cliff tops of St. Lucia where with Red-billed Tropicbirds whistling by, we will root down into the earth, finding that pure connection to nature through our Root chakra; and on to the tranquil azure waters of the Caribbean Sea, where aboard our privately chartered catamaran we will raise our voices by way of our Throat chakra to experience the uplifting effect of Kirtan. While our daytime yoga sessions will have the calls of nature as our backdrop, our evening sessions will be accompanied by the harmonic sounds of fellow BirdsCaribbean partner Shika Shika’s “Guide to the Birdsong” series. These tracks will create the perfect atmosphere to relax and recharge.
Red-billed Tropicbird (Photo by Birding the Islands client, Keith Clarkson)
The Birding Experience
Your guide to all things nature—founder of Birding the Islands Ltd. Ryan Chenery (the Bajan Birder)—will introduce you to the eclectic mix of flora and fauna found in this tropical paradise (and in some cases nowhere else on Earth).
Ryan Chenery
Dominica and St. Lucia are renowned for their spectacular wildlife. These two islands are home to three majestic Amazon parrots, every hummingbird in the Lesser Antillean region, an array of endemic and near endemic warblers, tremblers, thrashers, nightjars and pewees, and a wondrous variety of regional specialties from tropicbirds and frigate birds to solitaires and quail doves.
Purple-throated Carib (Photo by Birding the Islands client, Mark Greenfield)
You will wind down the tour in Barbados, exploring peaceful coastal enclaves to seek out Caribbean Martin and Black Swift. Go birding along the glistening white beaches and mangroves for close encounters with terns, herons, waterfowl and migratory shorebirds. End the tour by stepping away from terra firma and submerging yourself in the most breathtakingly beautiful turquoise waters in the region—where you snorkel with turtles and find yourself surrounded by the many colorful inhabitants of the island’s coral reefs.
Green Turtle coming up for air in Barbados (Photo by Ryan Chenery)
And yes, there’s more…
In St. Lucia, you will also have the chance to learn about traditional Rastafarian herbal remedies and discover the island’s influential connection to the sea. On Barbados, we explore the history of the sugar industry in the Caribbean, at one of the island’s oldest working rum distilleries. In Dominica, we spend time with the Kalinago people, the island’s original inhabitants. We will gain insight into their rich culture and visit the sacred site where these indigenous people first landed on the island from their original settlement in South America. Here, we also take a breathtaking cruise off the Atlantic coast in search of whales!
Humpback Whale (Photo by Ryan Chenery)
Take some time to reconnect…
There is no purer connection to the natural world than remembering that we are all part of the cosmic consciousness. By practicing yoga in some of the most ecologically rich and pristine habitats in the Caribbean, you have the opportunity to experience a deep connection to the powerful healing energies of the natural world. Along the way, you will experience different yoga styles, develop (or begin) your pranayama and meditation practice, immerse yourself in a Sound Healing Journey, perhaps indulge in an optional private Reiki treatment and even try your hand at SUP (Stand-up Paddle) Yoga!
Alex Meditating in Nature
But I’m a birder, not a yogi (or vice versa)!
Yoga is for everyone—and so is birding! Each part of this retreat into nature has been specifically created to meet you where you are at. Learning is an important part of the mission of our organizations, and you are invited to join us with as much or as little experience in either yoga or birding as you currently have.
Ryan Chenery “Practicing Flying” with an Immature Great Blue Heron
We are hopeful that these tours will serve to introduce birders to the profound therapeutic benefits of yoga, and yoga practitioners to the wonderful world of birding. They will be voyages of discovery—connecting with birds and with our inner selves.
Note: Birding the Islands and Spinning Arrow Yoga are generously donating a portion of your tour fee to support our bird conservation programs in the Caribbean. In addition, our tours support local livelihoods, including guides (our partners, some have received training through out Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training Program) and small businesses, in the islands.
The bird world holds quite a few unsolved mysteries—in the Caribbean, too. One of these is the intriguing story of the Jamaican Petrel, which unfolded at a webinar on September 17th. Dr. Leo Douglas, Past President of both BirdsCaribbean and BirdLife Jamaica, and now Clinical Assistant Professor at New York University (NYU), led the conversation with Adam Brown, Senior Biologist at Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC). Participants were treated to some fascinating stories from the field about petrels, that led towards a glimmer of hope for the bird.
Study skin of the Jamaican Petrel from the American Museum of Natural History. The species was last seen and collected in 1879, however, nocturnal petrels are notoriously difficult to find, so it could still survive in remote areas of the Blue and John Crow Mountains of Jamaica. (Photo by Leo Douglas)
The question is this: Is the Jamaican Petrel, long considered extinct, still alive? As Dr. Douglas pointed out, so many Caribbean endemic birds are “languishing in the drawers of museums around the world,” including at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Dr. Douglas admits that, like Adam Brown, he has “a bit of an obsession” with petrels.
The Jamaican Petrel (Pterodroma caribbaea) was said to have nested in the Blue Mountains, where specimens were collected up to 1879.
Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site preservation zone shown in red)
Finding the bird on land has proved to be a tremendous challenge, since like other petrels it nests in burrows at five to six thousand feet up. The burrows go three feet or so into the ground. Adam explained that petrels fly out to sea at dusk, foraging for food, returning home before dawn. They appear to use gullies and river valleys to fly from the sea to the mountains. It is thought that the Jamaican Petrel would feed far out at sea on crustaceans, shrimps and the like, which come to the surface at night.
Park Ranger Jermy Schroeter at Cinchona in the Blue Mountains with radar equipment used to detect petrels flying at night. (Photo by Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust)
Adam Brown explained that predators were—and remain—a threat. In Dominica as well as in Jamaica, the last sightings of petrels coincided with the introduction of mongoose onto the islands, which happened in Jamaica in 1872. However, Adam Brown revealed that the Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) was rediscovered in Dominica, through thermal imaging and radar, in 2015. Again, in January 2020 hundreds of birds were tracked, flying overhead. No nests have been found, but adult birds have been found on the ground, usually disoriented or injured.
Adam Brown takes a GPS measurement on a ridge in Dominica overlooking a valley where radar detected petrel movements in and out of the nearby peaks (Photo by Jennifer Wheeler)
On Hispaniola, where Adam Brown, EPIC and local partners at Grupo Jaragua have conducted a great deal of field work, Black-capped Petrels’ nests were found during an expedition in the hilly region of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, in 2007. Mongoose, rats, and feral cats are always around, but the birds exist. So predators may not be the whole story. Over-hunting during the nineteenth century may also have been a factor in the birds’ decline.
Cat investigating Black-capped Petrel nesting burrow in Haiti. (Photo by Adam Brown)
So, where was the Jamaican Petrel last seen? Back in the nineteenth century, it was spotted in the slopes above Nanny Town and near Cinchona (the last known nest was found when the ground was being dug for the Cinchona Gardens, established in 1868) in the Blue and John Crow Mountains. These areas appear to be a good starting point for a search; it is possible that the birds would use the Rio Grande Valley in Portland as a flight path.
Adam Brown took his radar equipment up to the Cinchona area, and on March 22, 2016, he detected six petrel-like “targets” flying at approximately 65 km per hour, with two circling for a while before retreating out to sea (perhaps looking for future nesting sites). Could they have been Black-capped Petrels, or Jamaican Petrels? Petrels are known to be fast flyers, clocked at over 50 kilometers per hour on radar in Hispaniola.
Prior to Adam’s work, Dr. Douglas and a colleague, Herlitz Davis, had spotted a Black-capped Petrel off Jamaica’s south-east coast. Now Adam is interested in investigating the waters south east of Jamaica for this elusive bird.
The mystery of the Jamaican Petrel has not been solved—not by any means. However, there is hope. Nocturnal creatures can, of course, more easily escape notice. There may well be small colonies of the mystery bird, way up there in the Blue Mountains.
Dr. Susan Otuokon, Executive Director of the Jamaica Conservation Development Trust (JCDT), is firmly convinced that the Jamaican Petrel exists. She pointed out that the Jamaican Hutia (Coney), which is found in the Blue Mountains, and the Jamaican Iguana were once considered extinct; however, they were “rediscovered.” Dr. Otuokon added that the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that the non-profit organization manages, is home to an extraordinary number of rare and endemic species of flora and fauna. Although JCDT is not a research institute, trained park rangers, tour and field guides are available to assist visiting scientists.
The webinar ended on a hopeful note. If you are up in the Blue and John Crow Mountains at night, and you hear an eerie cry in the valleys…
You never know. The lost Jamaican Petrel may be found again.
A young man in a Black-capped Petrel costume leads the parade during the Festival Diablotin (local name for the Black-capped Petrel) held in Boucan Chat, Haiti. The festival also includes a soccer game and film screening, and is designed to instill interest and pride in the rare bird nesting in nearby forest (Photo by Anderson Jean)
Blue and John Crow Mountains (Photo by
Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust)
Blue and John Crow Mountains-view from Cinchona (Photo by
Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust)
Cell phone tower in Hispaniola – call phone towers are now everywhere. For birds traveling at night, they are attracted to the tower and may strike it and fall to the ground. If they are stunned or injured, they could be taken by a predator. (Photo by Adam Brown)
Collecting Caribbean pine for cooking in Haiti (Photo by Adam Brown)
Jamaican Gleaner article about an Audubon’s Shearwater found in Jamaica – it is rare to find this bird on land.
Caribbean shorebirds count in 2020! With growing threats to their habitats, perhaps now more than ever.
As shorebirds begin to arrive in the Caribbean, many still have not fully transitioned from their breeding plumage, like this beautiful Black-bellied Plover. In the winter, these birds are mottled gray and white overall. (Photo by Jerome Foster)
Our Caribbean partners went out “shorebirding” in their favorite spots between September 3 and 9, 2020, as part of the Global Shorebird Count. Despite some local challenges, the efforts of Caribbean birders were rewarded. Worldwide, preliminary results show 1,567checklists from 1,303 unique locations where 146 species of shorebirds were recorded. The official 2020 results summary results have not been posted yet but will appear on the World Shorebirds Day website. The Caribbean should be well represented.
In the Dominican Republic, Grupo Acción Ecológica visited several sites important to shorebirds in Samaná, San Cristobál, La Vega and Peravia. They recorded a wide range of shorebird species and some large groups of birds including 800 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 600 Stilt Sandpipers, 420 Black-bellied Plover, and 350 Semipalmated Plover. They even encountered some less common species, likea group of three Wilson’s Phalaropes.
In Barbados, several BirdsCaribbean members spent the week of The Global Shorebird Count visiting the many swamps across the island. Notable observations included an impressive group of 32 Whimbrels, in addition to 6 Upland Sandpipers and another Wilson’s Phalarope. Other birds observed included Semipalmated Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Ruddy Turnstone, among many others.
Black-necked Stilts are found in the Caribbean throughout the year. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
In Guadeloupe, Anthony Levesque visited Pointe des Chateaux and counted 430 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 19 Hudsonian Godwits and even a European subspecies of Whimbrel. See all the species on his eBird checklist here. On a different day during the week, he was able to capture an Eastern and Western subspecies of Willet foraging next to each other (see the eBird checklist for a photo). According to eBird, the “Eastern” subspecies breeds in saltmarshes along East Coast of U.S. while the “Western” breeds in marshy grasslands in the Interior West of North America. It seems that “East meets West” in Guadeloupe’s wetlands during migration!
Emma Lewis provided an excellent round-up of World Shorebirds Day with stunning photos in a blog article for Global Voices:
For some Jamaican birders, the highlight of World Shorebirds Day was perhaps the appearance of an adorable family of West Indian Whistling Ducks, captured on video by Damion Whyte, biologist, birder and a passionate social media educator on all things environmental. Others in Jamaica were not so lucky. Members of BirdLife Jamaica — much fewer in numbers this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions — trekked in ones and twos to their favorite viewing sites. One member, on arriving in Old Harbour Bay after heavy rains the day before, found the location overwhelmed with mud!
Young birders celebrate World Shorebirds Day in Ashton Lagoon with SusGren on Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. (Photo by SusGren)
There were also more sociable events on the calendar. The NGO SusGren (Sustainable Grenadines) shared photos of an educational trip to the newly-restored Ashton Lagoon on Union Island. In celebration of World Shorebirds Day 2020, SusGren in collaboration with Environmental Attackers conducted educational outreach for students of the Stephanie Brown Primary school. The high-spirited students, who were out of their beds as early as 5:30 a.m. for the session, were engaged in activities such as bird labeling, bingo, and bird identification.
Shorebirds rely on Caribbean habitats to rest and refuel during their long migratory journeys, while some are resident year-round in the region. Large tourism developments, including hotels, marinas and other projects, continue to be built along the islands’ coastlines, resulting in the destruction of vital mangroves and wetlands. Currently, three tourism projects under way in Grenada threaten wetlands that shelter birds and other endangered species, including turtles. On other islands, hunting and plastic pollution are major threats for shorebirds.
As Emma noted, “World Shorebirds Day in the Caribbean is not only a celebration of the birds themselves, but of the beautiful places they call home, even if only temporarily for many of them.”Thank you to everyone who participated in the event this year!
In case you missed it earlier, you can download the pdf of our Quick ID Guide to Common Shorebirds of the Caribbean here. For use in the field, print on card-stock and laminate.
Red dots represent 2020 Global Shorebird Count participation; gray dots represent previous year’s locations.
A Ruddy Turnstone and Lesser Yellowlegs in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Pedro Genaro)
Grupo Acción Ecológica members counting shorebirds in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Maria Paulino).
Short-billed Dowitchers feeding and resting near Great Bay, St Elizabeth, Jamaica, 6 September 2020. (photo by Ann Sutton)
Least Sandpiper foraging at Great Pedro Pond in Jamaica, 6 September 2020 (photo by Ann Sutton)
A Curlew Sandpiper. (Photo by Jerome Foster)
A striking Wilson’s Plover. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
A Willet in flight, Barbados. (Photo by John Webster)
Spotted Sandpipers don’t have their breeding plumage spots year-round. During the winter in the Caribbean, they are commonly seen without them. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
American Golden-Plovers, Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Southern Lapwing. (Photo by Jerome Foster)
Semipalmated Plovers in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Maria Paulino).
Wilson’s Snipe in Barbados. (Photo by John Webster)
A group of Whimbrels at Chancery Lane, Barbados. (Photo by Julian Moore).
A pair of Hudsonian Godwits in Barbados. (Photo by John Webster)
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Hooded Warbler
This is another Warbler where the name gives us a clue to what the bird looks like! Males of this species can be recognized by the striking black ‘hood’ surrounding it’s bright yellow face. They also have bright yellow underparts and an olive-green back. Females may show a faint hood but these vary depending in part on age. First year birds lack a hood. Another great ‘clue’ to identify this warbler is the way it flicks and fans its tail, revealing white outer tail feathers, as ‘flashes’ of white.
Hooded Warblers breed across Midwestern and eastern parts of the US. They are long-distance migrants and head south to Central America, South Mexico and the Caribbean in Fall. They will spend the winter here. During this time they are most commonly found in the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles. On their migration they may stopover in Jamaica. These little birds like to use understory vegetation in forests and mangroves. This ‘lower level’ living makes them a bit easier to spot compared to the many warblers who prefer the tree-tops! Here they will be looking for insects and spiders to eat. You might spot them looking for food on the ground.
Both male and female Hooded Warblers defend territories during the winter. This means you’re unlikely to see them together (unless they are fighting over a territory!). The way that Hooded Warbler’s flick their tail, flashing white patches, seems to help them catch insects. It could be that it causes insects to take flight, making them easier to see or catch. As with many other warblers, Hooded Warblers migrate at night and are vulnerable to collisions with made-made structures. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Hooded Warbler!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Hooded Warbler
The call of the Hooded Warbler is a loud and metallic-sounding “chip” . Males and females make this call when defending their territories.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Male Hooded Warbler, with his black hood contrasting strikingly with his bright yellow face. Another way to help identify this warbler is the way it flicks and fans its tail, revealing white outer tail feathers (Photo by BN Singh)Female Hooded Warbler, she is a bit less striking but you can see that she still has a trace of a ‘hood’ and a yellow face. Both male and female Hooded Warblers will defend territories during the winter (Photo by BN Singh)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: So far we have met five different Warblers that migrate to the Caribbean. How much can you remember about each one? Test your knowledge and be reminded of some facts and ID features with our Match the Fact to the Warbler game!
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk and see if you can spot a migratory warbler or any of our other migratory birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of both male and female Hooded Warbler. You can see the differences in their plumage. In both videos the birds are flicking their tails, and revealing flashes of their white outer tail feathers.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Northern Parula
This tiny colourful bird is one of the smallest warblers, and weighs only ~8.6g! Northern Parulas are a smart shade of blue-gray above, with a greenish-yellow patch on the back. They have a yellow throat and breast and a white belly. Also look out for two white wing-bars and their distinctive white eye crescents. Breeding males have a black and chestnut coloured breast band. There might be some faint remains of this still visible during fall migration. Females are similar to males but duller and usually lack the breast bands.
Northern Parulas breed in the eastern North America, from Florida up to the boreal forests of Canada. Interestingly they have a strange gap in their breeding range, missing from large parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and some states in the Northeast. Northern Parulas rely on Spanish moss to nest. This ‘gap’ could be linked to a lack of this vital resource due to habitat loss and increasing air pollution. Northern Parulas migrate south in the fall and arrive to spend the winter in the Caribbean from August onwards. It is one of the most common migrant warblers in the region. When they get ready to head north again from March you might even hear their ascending buzzy song!
This dainty and active warbler feeds on insects, and can be found during the winter in dry forest and scrub. They will pick insects from the undersides of leaves, as well as catch them in the air. They can also be found in many human-modified landscapes including, pastures, coffee, cacao, and citrus plantations. Northern Parulas mainly migrate at night and may join mixed-species flocks with other types of wood warblers. Night migrations leave wood warblers, like the Northern Parula, vulnerable to collisions with made-made structures such as tall buildings or communication towers. Hundreds to thousands are killed annually from collisions during migration throughout their range. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Northern Parula!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call and song of the Northern Parula
The call of the Northern Parula is a sharp “chip” sound.
In Spring you might also hear the song of the Northern Parula, an ascending buzzy trill.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Northern Parula male – this tiny colorful warbler has bluish upper-parts, yellow throat and breast, white belly, two white wing bars and white eye-arcs. Note that males have black and reddish chest bands. (Photo by Steve Buckingham)Female Northern Parulas are similar to males but less colorful; chest bands are paler or absent. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Can you match the insect names to the photos? Insects are a very important food source for migratory birds, many head south on migration in search of insects to help them survive the winter. Warblers in particular often specialise in eating mainly insects. Find the answers here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk and see if you can spot a migratory warbler or any of our other migratory birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of the Northern Parulas, where you can see the differences between the males and females. The first video shows a male bird, wintering in Cuba, foraging for insects on leaves. The second shows a female Northern Parula sunning herself.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Yellow-rumped Warbler
There is no mystery as to where the Yellow-rumped Warbler got its name, you are likely to see a flash of its trademark yellow rump patch as it flits around in a tree. In fact its nick-name is “butter-butt”! This bird also has bright yellow patches on the sides of its breast and a distinctive white throat. Breeding Males are vividly coloured and have a black mask across their eye. They also have black and white streaking on the chest. Females and younger birds look similar but are duller and brownish on the back and head. Males will look also look brownish during the winter. All birds at all times of year still have the distinctive white-ish throat and yellow rump.
There are two subspecies of this warbler, known as “Audubon’s” and “Myrtle.” It is the “Myrtle” subspecies which is most likely to be in the Caribbean (and which is described above). The “Audubon’s” subspecies has a yellow throat and no black eye-mask.
Yellow-rumped Warblers are one of the most common and wide-spread warblers. They breed across a wide area of Canada and the Northern US and in the autumn migrate south to the southern US, Central America, and the Caribbean. They are one of the last migrants to arrive, typically not turning up until November. They spend the winter here, and are most commonly found in the Bahamas and islands of the Greater Antilles.
Unlike many of the migratory warblers Yellow-rumped Warblers like to hang out together and are often seen in small groups. In the Caribbean, they live in woodlands, gardens, scrubby areas, coffee plantations, mangroves, and the edges of swamps. They eat insects and can sometimes be spotted making looping flights from perches to snatch insects out of the air. Unlike many warblers they also eat berries of many different plants. The fact that they can digest the wax berry coating means that Yellow-rumped Warblers can survive colder temperatures when there are no insects by eating bayberries and wax myrtle berries. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Yellow-rumped Warbler!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Yellow-rumped Warbler
The call of the Yellow-rumped Warbler is an abrupt “check”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Female Yellow-rumped Warbler. She is browner in colour than the male but you can still see her yellow sides, and streaking in the chest. (Photo by Linda Peterson)Male Yellow-rumped Warbler in his breeding plumage. He will look duller during Fall and winter. But would still have the yellow rump and sides you can see in this picture. (Photo by Karen Gallo)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Read the text above to find out facts about the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Then use the clues to rearrange the letters and reveal the words in our Yellow-rumped Warbler word scramble! Find the answers here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk and see if you can spot a migratory warbler or any of our other migratory birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of both male and female Yellow-rumped Warblers. The female in the first video is eating myrtle berries. In the second video you can see a male in breeding plumage.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Gray Kingbird
The Gray Kingbird is a large conspicuous species of tyrant flycatcher, a large family of birds known as energetic insectivores. It is gray above and white below and has a dark mask—a distinctive, but faint, black band extending from the base of the beak through the eye. It also has a large black beak with a slight hook at the tip, typical of this group of birds. This species is fiercely territorial during the breeding season and can often be seen chasing and fighting other individuals, employing amazing acrobatic manoeuvres in aerial dogfights. They are also known to chase and attack other birds, dogs, and humans who get too close to their nest.In The Bahamas, this species is locally called “Fighter” or “Pickereely” based on its aggressive behavior and the call it makes.Gray Kingbirds are present year-round in some islands (Hispaniola and islands east), but in others (e.g., Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica) they arrive in April, breed, and leave in September, and are hence known as “summer migrants.” Their range extends from Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America and northern South America. They prefer open habitats and can be seen in abundance in urban and suburban areas. Gray Kingbirds are also found in pinelands, coastal areas and mangroves. Birds that migrate have longer wings, shorter tails and larger bills than those that are resident.Gray Kingbirds feed mainly on various flying insects, including beetles, bees, moths, wasps, and dragonflies. They also eat fruits, seeds, and small vertebrates, like lizards. They may rarely eat hummingbirds, perhaps mistaking them for large insects, killing them by repeated blows on a branch before swallowing them! In The Bahamas, they have been seen eating poisonwood berries. Gray Kingbirds are often seen conspicuously perched, making their loud buzzy calls, pi-tirr-ri or pit-cherrie, repeated often. They sally out from these high perches to grab food items in mid-air. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Gray Kingbird!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Gray Kingbird
The call of the Gray Kingbird is a loud high-pitched “pipiri pipiri” trill.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Gray Kingbird with its wings outstretched. You can also see the red feathers this species had on the top of its head! These are revealed only when the bird is excited. (Photo by Rafy Rodriguez)Gray Kingbird, Perched, as they so often are. You can see the faint black line that runs through the eye, and the large slightly hooked beak. (Photo by Dax Roman)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Gray Kingbirds often fly out from their perch to snatch insects from the air, with their beak, to eat. Can up help the hungry Gray Kingbird to catch a fly? Follow the right trail and get a tasty fly for the Kingbird to eat! And here is the Answer Key. FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk and see if you can spot a Gray Kingbird or any of our other migratory birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Gray Kingbirds in the wild! The first shows a bird preening, you can also hear it making its high-pitched trilling call in this clip. The second shows a Gray Kingbird eating an insect it has just caught and then cleaning its beak.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Prairie Warbler
The males of this small warbler are bright yellow below and olive-green above with black streaking on the sides. They also have a black eye-line and a black semicircle under the eye, in a pattern that gives a “spectacled” appearance. Females and immature birds have a similar pattern, but it is less clearly defined and not as colourful. The underparts are paler yellow and the head may be yellow or greyish. These warblers can often be seen wagging their tails up and down.
Despite its name, the Prairie Warbler does not in fact breed in the open prairies. It breeds in forests and scrubby areas in the southeastern US. It arrives in the Caribbean from late August and will spend the winter here. Their numbers will start decreasing again in April as they head back north. They are most common in Northern parts of the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Their entire population spends the winter either in the Caribbean or Florida, making this a very important region for the species. During the winter Prairie Warblers like to live in coastal dry forests, mangroves, woodlands, orchards, and coffee farms; they may even show up in your garden! They eat insects and spiders that they pick off leaves and branches or catch out of the air. They have also been observed eating fruit.
Prairie Warbler numbers have declined in recent years due to loss of their preferred habitats. Along with many other migratory birds, they also face threats such as collisions with glass and predation from free-roaming cats. Making sure they have safe places to spend the winter, with plenty of bushy vegetation for them to forage in, can help this species. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Prairie Warbler!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Prairie Warbler
The call of the Prairie Warbler is a brief “chuck” . On its wintering grounds, you are not likely to hear the high-pitched song of rapidly ascending notes it makes when breeding.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Male Prairie Warbler, with his bright yellow face and belly. You can see the black spectacle-like marking around his eye. The entire population of this species spends the winter either in the Caribbean or Florida (Photo by Mark Tegges)Female Prairie Warbler, she is similar to the male but less brightly coloured. You can help this species by making sure they have safe places to spend the winter, with plenty of bushy vegetation for them to forage in. (Photo by Stephen Buckingham)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Play ‘Habitat Bingo‘ ! Find or identify the the objects in the Habitat Bingo – put an X in each square when you do. How many of the plants, birds, animals, resources or behaviours can you spot?
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Take a walk and see if you can spot any migrant birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the video below of a Prairie Warbler feeding. You can see this bird moving amongst the vegetation, picking up insects from the leaves- this type of foraging is called ‘gleaning’.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Royal Tern
Royal Terns are elegant white seabirds with a black cap. Tern identification can be tricky as there are many tern species that share the same white body, long pointed wings, and black cap. While they look similar, these species all have different field marks and behaviors that can make identification fun and easy once you get to know them! The best way to tell Royal Terns from other Caribbean terns is by their large size, long, bright, carrot-orange beak, and forked tail. During the breeding season, Royal Terns have a black cap and shaggy black crest. In the winter the top of the head turns white but they retain the black crest. Immature birds look similar to non-breeding adults but their beak is more yellow and their back may be speckled.
Royal Terns are almost always found near the coast—they don’t visit inland areas often. Royal Terns are expert hunters, hovering and then plunge-diving into the water to catch small fish. Some Royal Terns are resident in the Caribbean and can be found here year-round. They are the largest tern species that breeds in the Caribbean. During the breeding season from May to August, Royal Terns form big colonies on isolated cays and islands to raise their chicks. In the Caribbean, they often share colonies with Sandwich Terns. After chicks hatch, they form large groups called crèches that stay together while parents are off catching food. Parents can recognize their own chicks from the rest of the group by their call!
During the winter their numbers increase as the local residents are joined by migratory individuals from further north in the US. In the winter, you might see flocks of Royal Terns resting or “loafing” on sandy flats near shallow water, mudflats, beaches, docks, or pilings or buoys in the water. Royal Terns are declining in parts of the Caribbean, probably because of loss of breeding habitats and human disturbance. You can help by staying away from nesting colonies during the summer so that parents can safely raise their chicks. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Royal Tern!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Royal Tern
The call of the Royal Tern is a rasping high-pitched “Kri-i-ik.”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Royal Terns are large terns with a bright carrot-orange beak and forked tail. During the breeding season they have a black cap and shaggy black crest. (Photo by Beth Hamel)Royal Tern in flight. Note the long pointy wings and large bright orange beak. This tern is in non-breeding plumage – the top of the head is white but it still has a black crest. (Photo by BN Singh)
Take a walk at beach or wetland and see if you can spot any terns. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Royal Terns! The first video shows a bird with a fish at the water’s edge. The second video shows two birds engaged in pre-copulatory behavior – male standing on the female’s back – which they often do for a few minutes before copulating. Then the male is shown walking around and giving an aggressive display to nearby birds called Aggressive-Upright – the wings are held low and away from the body, and the head is held high with bill up or horizontal. This display may be given when adults are protecting young, when they are walking through or a colony, or when they are approached by other birds during courtship activities.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Painted Bunting
This small passerine is an amazing rainbow coloured bird! The beautiful multi-coloured male is unmistakable with his blue head, red throat, belly and rump, and bright green back. Males also have a thin red ring around their eyes. As with other buntings these birds have a short conical bill. Females and immature birds are far less colourful—olive-green above and yellowish-green below. Despite their bright colours Painted Buntings might not always be easy to spot, with their habit of hiding amongst the vegetation and staying close to the ground.
Unlike some of the migratory birds we have seen Painted Buntings do not make epic long-distance migrations. They breed in the south-eastern US and then migrate in the fall to spend the winter in the northern Caribbean and Central America. They do not come very far south and start arriving, mainly in the Bahamas and Cuba, from October. They stay until spring and start to head north in April.
Painted Buntings can be found in brush, scrub and grassy areas. There they hunt for insects and spiders or pull the seeds off grasses. If you have a seed feeder you might get a visit from a Painted Bunting. Unfortunately, the beauty of the Painted Bunting has made them long popular as caged birds. Although trapping and international trade has been banned in many countries, birds are still trapped and sold as pets, particularly in Mexico and Cuba. Trapping and loss of their habitat are probably factors in the long-term decline of this species, which is now listed as a “species of concern.” You can help Painted Buntings and other migratory birds by providing various seeds and a source of freshwater in your backyard, and educating others not to keep wild birds as pets. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Painted Bunting!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Painted Bunting
The call of the Painted Bunting is a loud “chip” which it might repeat.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
The brightly coloured male Painted Bunting. It is these beautiful colours that have made this species such a popular cage-bird in some places. And the illegal trade in wild birds has contributed to their decline (Photo Hemant Kishan)Female Painted Bunting. Although not at colourful as the male she is still recognisable from her bright green colour and short conical beak (Photo by Wildpix)
Take a walk and see if you can spot any migrant birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Painted Buntings feeding! The first shows the beautiful males foraging on the ground for seeds. In the second an immature bird (which looks a lot like a female) is on some grass eating the grass seeds.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Blackpoll Warbler
The Blackpoll Warbler is a member of the Parulidae Family, small active songbirds known as wood warblers. Breeding males have a black cap, white cheeks, black malar stripes, and black streaking on the back and sides. Breeding females are more cryptically coloured with olive-gray to olive-yellow upperparts, a dark eye-line, and some streaking. In the fall and winter males are olive above with streaks on the back, and whitish to pale yellow below with blurry streaks on the chest. Females are similar but with reduced streaking. Both sexes have yellow-orange coloured legs and distinctive white wing-bars, which are helpful for identification.
Blackpoll Warblers breed in boreal forest habitat in Alaska and Canada and winter in northern South America. These birds weigh less than 14g, but they make some epic journeys on migration. They can fly nonstop for up to 3 days! In a single flight across the ocean to South America, they can cover over 2,770 km. Not all Blackpoll Warblers make the trip in one go. Many stop over in the Caribbean both in the autumn and spring.On these refueling and resting stops they can be found in many places, such as mangroves, scrubby areas, and woodlands. The total journey made by this tiny bird, from breeding areas to their wintering areas can be over 8,000km. Find out more about their migration here.
Long journeys are tough for such small birds. Before leaving Blackpoll warblers feed until they double their body weight! They eat insects, feeding by picking them off leaves. Blackpoll Warblers migrate at night, sometimes in large numbers. Unfortunately, they are attracted to bright lights. This means they sometimes collide with lighthouses, communication towers, and tall buildings. Long-term monitoring data show that this species, like many other birds, is undergoing a widespread decline. More research is needed on the causes of the decline. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Blackpoll Warbler!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Blackpoll Warbler
The calls of the Blackpoll Warbler are a thin high-pitched “zeet-zeet-zeet.”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Female Blackpoll Warbler during the breeding season. She is olive-yellow and streaked which makes here harder to spot than the male. But notice the bright orange legs, which help identify her as a Blackpoll Warbler (Photo by Hemant Kishan)Breeding Male Blackpoll Warbler has a distinctive black cap and white face. He also has orange legs. (Photo by Hemant Kishan).Fall Migration Blackpoll Warbler. Both the male and female become more uniformly olive. But the orange legs and wing bars help to identify them. These amazing little birds travel thousands of kilometres to reach their wintering grounds during the fall migration (Photo by Anthony Levesque).
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Guide the Warbler and Sandpiper safely through their migration in our Migration Maze! Watch out for dangerous hazards like power lines, tall buildings and predators and get the birds to safety in the Caribbean. And here is the Answer Key.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
If you visit a woodland, mangrove or even just a patch of scrubby bush there might be some warblers around to you to spot! They start arriving at around this time of year. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of a female Blackpoll Warbler, foraging for insects. You can see that she is looking for them on the undersides of the leaves. Note the bold white wing bars.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Lesser Scaup
Moving on from shorebirds, but sticking with the watery theme, today’s migratory bird is a duck. The Lesser Scaup is medium sized for a duck and like many ducks, the male and female look quite different from each other. Males have black heads with purple/ green iridescence, a black neck and breast, white sides and greyish ‘marbled’ looking backs. They also have blue bills and bright yellow eyes. Females are warm chocolate brown, with a white patch that varies in size just behind the bill. Both sexes have a white wing-stripe, which runs half-way along the trailing edge of the upper wing and can be seen as they fly.
The Lesser Scaup is a diving duck that swims and feeds under water. Their bills are shaped like scoops, which helps them dig through soft mud looking for aquatic animals and plants. These ducks have quite a wide breeding range, across Canada and part of the US. They migrate south to spend the winter in warmer areas. They wait until there is ice on the lakes in North America before they begin migration, and they spend the winter farther south than any other diving duck in their species group (Aythya). This means that during November some will arrive in the Caribbean. They are most common in the northern Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, but can be found in other islands too.
When in the Caribbean Lesser Scaups can be found on large open water bodies, either fresh or coastal waters, often in groups. This species is very similar to another duck, the Greater Scaup. The best way to tell them apart is by head shape—the Lesser Scaup’s head is more narrow and egg-shaped with a peak (highest point) near the back of the head, while the head of the Greater Scaup is perfectly round. In addition, the sides and back of the Greater Scaup are lighter and it has a larger black nail on the tip of the bill. Luckily the Greater Scaup is far less common in the Caribbean so there shouldn’t be too many opportunities to mix them up!Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Lesser Scaup!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Lesser Scaup
The Lesser Scaup is often silent, but the females tend to make more noise than males. You might hear their ‘barking’ calls.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Female Lesser Scaup are mostly dark brown but with a variable size white patch behind the bill. (photo by Matt Grube)Male Lesser Scaup – a gorgeous bird with glossy purple-black head and breast, white sides and marbled grey back, blue bill and bright yellow eyes. Note how the narrow head is ‘peaked’ – tallest at the back of the head. This the best way to distinguish it from the Greater Scaup which has a perfectly round head. (Photo by Rick Evets)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Find out more about the Lesser Scaup by looking at this cool information sheet! It has facts about where they breed, when and where they migrate, and a map to help you see just how far they travel. And about what they like to eat!
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond or wetland and see if you can find and identify any ducks. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Lesser Scaup in the wild! The first one shows a group of birds feeding (3 males but one is an immature). Watch them ‘vanish’ under the water to forage and the pop back up with food. In the second video you can see a group of males and females flying. The white patch at the base of the females’ bills is obvious, as is the white stripe in the wings of both the males and females.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Black-necked Stilt
Unlike many shorebirds, the elegant Black-necked Stilt is instantly recognizable. It has very long stilt-like red-pink legs and is bright white with striking black on the head, neck and back. When it flies you can see its long pink legs trailing out behind. It uses its long thin beak to probe for food in mud and water. This group of shorebirds has the second-longest legs, in relation to its body size, of any bird in the word! Only the flamingos beat them.
This shorebird is resident in the Caribbean and breeds here, especially in parts of the Bahamas, the Virgin and Cayman Islands and Greater Antilles. This means you might see juvenile birds as well as adults. These are often smaller, with paler pink legs, and dark brown, rather than black on their necks and backs. Unlike some of our other migratory shorebirds, Black-necked Stilts may actually become less common in some areas of the Caribbean in the autumn and winter.
When disturbed, Black-necked Stilts are very noisy birds – they sound the alarm with a loud raucous series of notes wit-wit-wit-wit-wit-wit that they give incessantly until the disturbance goes away. Vigilant parents will also dive at predators and feign a broken wing to lead predators away from the nest.
Black-necked Stilts can be found in all sorts of wetlands, inland or by the coast. They use wetland areas to nest as well as to spend the winter. They are very adaptable and will use man-made wetlands such as sewage ponds and rice-fields. They feed by wading through the water, catching aquatic insects, crustaceans and even small frogs and fish! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Black-necked Stilt!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Black-necked Stilt
When disturbed, Black-necked Stilt sound the alarm with a loud raucous series of notes wit-wit-wit-wit-wit-wit that they give incessantly until the disturbance goes away.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
The Black-necked Stilt has striking black and white plumage and impossibly long pinkish red legs. These smart looking shorebirds could fittingly be described as ‘Tuxedo birds’! (Photo by Hemant Kishan)Black-necked Stilt parent and 4 fluffy chicks – the chicks leave the nest within a day and can feed themselves, but the parents brood them and guard them until they older. (Photo by Rick Evets)Black-necked Stilts are impressive in flight with their long pink legs trailing behind and calling loudly as they fly. (Photo by Ray Robles)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Today we have reached the end of our celebration of shorebirds in the Caribbean! We have told you about 10 different species of shorebirds. How many do you know? Remind yourself of each on of these amazing birds by playing our Shorebirds Memory Matching Game. Each time you make a match there will be a short paragraph on the species main ID tips. Don’t forget that some of these birds look different in their breeding plumage compared to their winter plumage! Having trouble seeing all 10 pairs on your screen? Just use the drop-down box in the top right of the screen to reduce the number of pairs.FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Black-necked Stilts. In the first one you can see a Black-necked Stilt using it’s long legs to wade into deep water, and plunging in its head to look for food. In the second video a flock of Black-necked Stilts take flight; notice their striking black and white plumage and their long legs trailing behind them!
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Greater Yellowlegs
There is no mystery as to where this elegant, fairly large shorebird got its name. The long, bright yellow legs are a real give-away when identifying this bird. But take care not to mix it up with its smaller cousin the Lesser Yellowlegs! To pick out the Greater Yellowlegs, as well as the larger size, look for the relatively longer beak, sometimes slightly upturned. Also overall look Greater Yellowlegs look a bit chunkier. Greater Yellowlegs are mottled grey above and white on the belly. You will often hear their three to four ringing note “Kiu-Kiu-Kiu” calls, which are another great way to be sure you got the right species ID. (Lesser Yellowlegs usually give only 2 notes and the call is sharper and more clipped.)Greater Yellowlegs breed in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, in bogs and marshes. They start arriving in the Caribbean from August. Greater Yellowlegs are most commonly seen on their southward migration through until October. Some will continue on to South America, but others will spend the winter here. Greater Yellowlegs can be found in wetlands, both freshwater and on the coast. They show up in rice-fields, mud flats and on mangrove edges. They love to wade into the water, searching for small fish, crustaceans and snails. Sometimes this means you cannot see their yellow legs! In some parts of the Caribbean, hunters shoot Greater Yellowlegs and other shorebirds. But, one of the main threats to Greater Yellowlegs is the ongoing loss of wetland habitats, in the places it spends the winter. Making sure that wetlands in the Caribbean are preserved will help this species and many others find safe, food-rich places either to refuel on migration or to spend the winter. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Greater Yellowlegs!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Greater Yellowlegs
The Greater Yellowlegs call is a strident three or four-note “Kiu-Kiu-Kiu.“
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Greater Yellowlegs catching a small fish – this species loves to wade into the water, searching for small fish, crustaceans and snails(Photo by Rick Evets)Greater Yellowlegs. One of the main threats to Greater Yellowlegs is the ongoing loss of wetland habitats, in the places it spends the winter (Photo by Jeff Gerbracht)Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. The difference in size is apparent if you see them side by side, but when they are alone, it is difficult to judge the bird’s size! In this case, the best ID tip is to use the length of the bill relative to the head size. If it is about equal (1:1), then it is a Lesser Yellowlegs. If it is clearly longer than the head width (about 1.5 to 1), then it is likely a Greater Yellowlegs. (Photo by Anthony VanSchoor)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Migrating shorebirds spend lots of their time flying. Remember that Whimbrels can fly for up to 6 days without stopping! You can make your own flying shorebird, with this flight animator. Just follow the instructions to get your shorebird flying! FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of feeding Greater Yellowlegs. The first video show a bird feeding, as this species often does, in shallow and sometimes deep water, probing and swishing its long beak from side to side to stir up the water and feel for its prey. The second video is longer and shows a useful comparison of Greater Yellowlegs with Lesser Yellowlegs. You can also hear the 3-4 note call tew tew tew that the Greater Yellowlegs often gives when alarmed or taking flight.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Piping Plover
This small, plump, sand-colored shorebird has orange legs and a short stubby beak. In the spring and summer this beak has an orange base and birds have a black band all or part of the way around their neck and breast. In the autumn and winter the beak is usually all black and some birds completely lose the band on their breast. They make a high-pitched whistling call. Piping Plovers do not go as far south as some shorebirds and mainly spend the winter in the Northern Caribbean. The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cuba are important wintering grounds. During the autumn and winter Piping Plovers can be found in sandy places at the water’s edge. Here they look for worms, insects and mollusks to eat. They can be seen quickly running in search of food and suddenly stopping when they find something. Piping Plovers breed in North America. Developments on beaches and lake shores mean Piping Plovers have lost some of their breeding habitat. This means Piping Plovers are now far less common than they used to be. Nesting areas on beaches are now often protected from disturbance to try to help the population increase. Making sure they also have safe places to feed and rest in the Caribbean during the winter is also important. You can find out more about a year in the life of Piping Plover including an important discovery in the Bahamas. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Piping Plover!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Piping Plover
The Piping Plover’s call is rather soft whistling “peep”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Breeding Piping Plover. Piping Plovers breed in North America. Developments on beaches and lake shores mean Piping Plovers have lost some of their breeding habitat (Photo by BN Singh)Non-breeding Piping Plover. . During the autumn and winter Piping Plovers can be found in sandy places at the water’s edge. Here they look for worms, insects and mollusks to eat. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Over the last week we have met a few different types of Plovers. Can you remember what each one looked like? Test you knowledge by trying the match pictures of each Plover species to their names. Try looking back at previous days for tips on what each Plover looked like! And find the Answer Key here. FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Piping Plovers in different types of plumage. The first show a Piping Plover spending the winter in the Caribbean (Cuba). The second video was filmed in April and you can see what Piping Plovers look like in breeding plumage. In both you can see how ’round’ and plump looking these birds are!
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Wilson’s Plover
The Wilson’s Plover is a high spirited, medium-sized shorebird, with a distinctive thick black beak. In fact, this species is sometimes called the “Thick-billed Plover.”
This plover has pale legs and large eyes. Breeding adults are medium brown coloured on the back, and white on the belly, with a single breast band that is blackish in males and brownish in females. During the winter the male’s black breast band turns brown and they start to look more like females.
Wilson’s Plovers will give loud, sharp, “wheep” and “whip” alarm calls, especially during the breeding season. And they perform convincing “broken-wing” displays in an attempt to lure potential predators away from their nests.
Wilson’s Plovers live on the coast and can be found on beaches and at the edges of lagoons and ponds. They breed across a wide area, from the U.S. south Atlantic coast into South America. Wilson’s Plovers can be found in the northern part of the Caribbean during most months of the year and across the Caribbean during the winter months.
Many Wilson’s Plovers live in places with year-round warm weather. This means they are only medium-distance migrants, with only those birds breeding furthest North in the range moving South in winter. Many of the Wilson’s Plovers in the Caribbean are resident and breed here.
One of the Wilson’s Plover’s favourite foods is the fiddler crab. They watch for them, and then run and lunge, capturing them with their large, strong beaks. With their large eyes and amazing eyesight, they can hunt during both day and night. They teach their chicks to hunt for fiddler crabs at about three weeks old.
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Wilson’s Plover
The Wilson’s Plover’s call is sharp “Whit” whistle, which it often repeats.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Female Wilson’s Plover. The Wilson’s Plover is listed in the U.S. as a Species of High Concern, as it is in apparent decline. Loss of habitat and human disturbance to nesting areas are the primary threats to this species. (Photo by Margo Zdravkovic)Male Wilson’s Plover. During the winter the male’s black breast band turns brown and they start to look more like females. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Wilson’s Plovers at the beach! In the first you can see the difference between the male (with it’s black breast band) and female (the breast band it brown). The second shows a Wilson’s Plover eating a crab- it’s favourite food.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Whimbrel
Whimbrels are shorebirds that are easy to identify from their large size and long down-curved bills. They are mottled brown in colour, with long legs and a longish neck. The name ‘Whimbrel’ in English is probably an interpretation of the distinctive rippling whistling calls they give.
Whimbrels like most types of wetlands, from ponds, to swamps, marshes, mudflats and sometimes beaches. They love to eat crabs, digging them out of their burrows with that long curved bill. They also eat fish, aquatic worms, insects, and berries.
The Whimbrels that we see on migration in the Caribbean will have travelled all the way from breeding areas in Alaska and Canada. They can fly non-stop for up to 6 days! The best time to see Whimbrels in the Caribbean is during September. They can show up anywhere in the region but you might only see one or two at a time. They can be more numerous in some places in Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Whimbrel
The Whimbrel’s call is a rapid series of piping notes “whee-whee-whee-whee” that sound slurred and merge together.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Whimbrel in flight. Like so many shorebirds, sadly Whimbrels numbers are in decline. They are threatened by hunting and habitat loss (Photo by Rick Evets)Whimbrel- they are easy to identify from their large size and long down-curved bills. The Whimbrels that we see in the Caribbean will have travelled all the way from breeding areas in Alaska and Canada (Photo by Rick Evets)
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the video below of a Whimbrel looking for food on a sandy beach in December. You can see it using it’s long beak to find and pull a crab out of the sand! You will also notice how large the Whimbrel is compared to the smaller shorebirds running past it. These pale-coloured birds are Sanderlings who also turn up in the Caribbean in the winter.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Plovers are small, stocky shorebirds with medium brown upperparts, white underparts, short stubby bills, and a dark band around their neck and breast. Their legs are orange, and so is the base of their beak; although this fades to black by winter. They look very similar to Piping Plovers, but are a warmer brown colour. The name ‘Semipalmated’ comes from the fact they have slightly webbed toes that they can use to swim short distances.
Semipalmated Plovers breed in the arctic and the far north of the US and Canada. They arrive in the Caribbean in the autumn. Some will venture further south, but many of them will spend the winter here, in tidal areas, salt ponds, beaches, and mudflats. They feed on marine worms, crustaceans, and small mollusks.
Scientists in Brazil noticed that Semipalmated Plovers use something called ‘foot-trembling’ to get food. They stand still on one leg, and shake the other leg very fast, with their foot in the mud. This makes any worms of crustaceans move, which means the Plover can spot them more easily and gobble them up.
Semipalmated Plovers like to flock together for safety and you might spot large groups of them feeding together. As well as their own kind, Semipalmated Plovers are also happy to mix with other shorebird species out on the mud or sand. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Semipalmated Plover!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Semipalmated Plover in breeding plumage in April. (Photo by Ray Robles)Semipalmated Plover in non-breeding plumage in October. In this close-up you can see the partially webbed toes which gives the bird their name. (Photo by Jeffrey Offerman
Listen to the call of the Semipalmated Plover
The Semipalmated Plover’s call is a piping two-note “tu-ee.”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Semipalmated Plover in breeding plumage, in April. (Photo by Ray Robles)Semipalmated Plover in non-breeding plumage in October. This close-up shows the partially webbed toes for the which this plover is named. (Photo by Jeffrey Offerman)
Activity of the Day
For KIDS: Make your own shorebirds! Download the pieces and then cut out and assemble these two cute shorebirds. You can use them to imagine the long journeys shorebirds like these make and the adventures they might have on the way!
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Semipalmated Plovers feeding. In the first, filmed in April, the bird is starting to get it’s breeding plumage. This video shows well the ‘run and stop” feeding method of plovers – will see it looking for food items running and then stopping to feed. In the second video (with Spanish commentary) the bird is in it’s winter plumage and can be seen using ‘foot-trembling’ to find food.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Red Knot
Depending on the time of year you see this shorebird its name will either make perfect sense or leave you confused. During the spring and summer it is bright rusty red on the chest and belly. But, in the autumn it gradually replaces its feathers. By winter it becomes white underneath and pale grey above. This medium size shorebird, is chunky looking with a mid-length beak (for a shorebird).
Red Knots are most likely to be in the Caribbean during the autumn and are more common on some islands, like Barbados. They stop on their way to wintering areas much further south. You are most likely to find Red knots on the coast, in tidal sandy or muddy areas. They like to hang out in groups together and with other species of shorebird. They feed mainly on small mollusks in the winter, but also eat marine worms and small crabs.
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Red Knot
The Red Knot is often silent but sometimes makes a soft “chunt chunt” call
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Red Knot in Winter Plumage. Red Knots breed in the far north, in the Arctic. They can spend the winter as far south as the southern most tip of South America. This means they make some amazing migratory journeys of tens of thousands of miles overall! (Photo by Beth Hamel)Breeding Red Knot n the autumn it gradually replaces its feathers to become gray all over. (Photo by Rick Evets)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Shorebirds are one of the most difficult groups of birds to learn to ID, but with a little practice and time in the field, you will soon be able to ID the most common species. We’ve put together some helpful tips of things to look for. You can download a PDF of this file here for printing. For long-term use in the field, print on card stock and laminate.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Red Knots feeding on the beach. In the first you will notice traces on the red plumage that give this birds its name, this bird is still in between breeding and winter plumage. In the second video the birds look grey above and pale below, they are in full winter plumage.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Spotted Sandpiper
The name of this medium-sized shorebird comes from its breeding plumage, when it has dark brown spots scattered across it’s white chest and belly. Even during the winter when this bird loses its spots and is brown above and white below it is still easy to recognize. Look for the orange at the base of its mid-length beak and shortish yellow legs. Spotted Sandpipers also give us other clues as to who they are in the way they behave. They constantly ‘bob’ their tails up and down, and often look like they are teetering forward. They also have a distinctive rapid ‘flap, flap, glide’ flight, holding their wings out stiffly as they go.
Spotted Sandpipers breed in a wide area of Canada and the US and start arriving across the Caribbean from August. They will spend the winter here and can be found at the water’s edge. This might be on a beach, at a mangrove, by a stream, or even in farmland like rice fields. Here they are likely to be alone and will be looking for insects, crustaceans or worms to eat.
For most migratory birds the male arrives first in the breeding area and claims a territory. But for Spotted Sandpipers it is the females that do this. Males then do most of the care for the eggs and the chicks. Some females might even lay several clutches of eggs, each with a different male! Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Spotted Sandpiper!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Spotted Sandpiper
The Spotted Sandpiper‘s call is a piping “we-weet” which it might repeat several times.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Spotted Sandpiper in Winter Plumage. This species They constantly ‘bobs’ its tail up and down, and often looks like it is teetering forward. (Photo by Darlene Friedman)Breeding plumage Spotted Sandpiper. You can see the when dark brown spots scattered across it’s white chest and belly that give the bird its name. (Photo by Paul Reeves)
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Help us celebrate World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count (September 3 to 9) with our new Snowy Plover colouring book, Color and Protect the Snowy Plover! Colour in each page and learn all about Snowy Plovers in the Caribbean, the threats they face, and how you can protect them. Download the English version here Download the Spanish version here
To see more images from the colouring book and learn more about the artist, click here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the video below of a Spotted Sandpiper characteristically ‘bobbing’ its tail up and down! You can also see some of the spots which give this bird its name.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats, and conservation actions you can take.
Cover of the New Coloring Book: Color and Protect the Snowy Plover, illustrations by Josmar Marquez, text by Josmar et al. Produced by BirdsCaribbean for World Shorebirds Day, September 3 to 9, 2020
We’re excited to share with you a new coloring book: Color and Protect the Snowy Plover. The coloring book was created by talented artist and naturalist, Josmar Esteban-Márquez, in honor of this year’s World Shorebirds Day celebration (3 to 9 September).
Josmar created this coloring book to provide a fun resource for kids to learn about Snowy Plovers—small gray-brown and white shorebirds that live on Caribbean beaches and salt flats. The coloring book highlights how vulnerable these birds are to disturbance and predation, and how each of us must take care not to step on or trample their nests or disturb them when they are breeding.
Josmar studies and monitors shorebirds on offshore islands and cays of Venezuela. He bands migratory and resident shorebirds to learn more about their movements, habitat use, survival, and population size.
Josmar is also a passionate conservationist. He is well aware of the many threats to shorebirds and is doing all he can to raise awareness about how special these birds are and how everyone can help to protect them. Josmar takes youth of all ages birding, creates amazing bird art murals with kids, and holds community festivals to celebrate shorebirds.
A newly marked Snowy Plover. (Photo by Antonio Ros)
The Coloring book is available for free download in English and Spanish. We anticipate having a French version available soon. Enjoy the coloring book story and illustrations with your kids and download pages or the whole book for your child to color in. Learn more about Snowy Plovers here.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Ruddy Turnstone
It is easy to see how this shorebird got its name, with its rufous-brown feathers and a habit of turning rocks and stones over with its beak to find food. These charismatic birds can be found feeding in groups in rocky areas of shoreline, mudflats and on beaches. Turnstones are quite striking. In addition to those rufous feathers, they have black or brown patches on their chest and head, a short pointed black beak and rather short bright orange legs. In winter the ‘ruddy’ feathers become duller brown. When Turnstones take flight you can see their brown and white stripey backs. You might also hear their cackling ‘katakak’ call as they take off. Ruddy Turnstones breed mainly in the arctic and fly south for the winter. Like many other shorebirds, they can fly thousands of miles in only a few days when on migration. They normally turn up in the Caribbean in August and can stay until May. During this time, they can be found throughout the Caribbean. As well as beaches they are sometimes found on man-made structures like jetties and piers. Some Turnstones will travel through the Caribbean and go even further, to spend the winter as far south as Argentina. Turnstones feed mainly on snails, crustaceans and insects, but they are not fussy and are even known to sometimes eat fallen fruit. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Ruddy Turnstone!
Download the page from Endemic Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Ruddy Turnstone
The Ruddy Turnstone’s call is a cackling “katakak” often given as they take flight.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Ruddy Turnstone in winter plumage (Photo by Gary McHale)Ruddy Turnstone in flight, showing the stripes on its back (Photo by Maikel Cañizares)
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the videos below of Ruddy Turnstones! The birds in the first video are in their winter plumage, looking for food amongst the seaweed on a beach in Cuba, in January. The second video shows the feeding method that these birds use and for which they are named—turning over stones, shells, and other items on the beach in search of invertebrate foods in the sand.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats, and conservation actions you can take.
Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home. This week we are also celebrating World Shorebirds Day and Global Shorebird Count (3 to 9 September).
Migratory Bird of the Day: Black-bellied Plover
This stocky looking shorebird gets its name from its breeding plumage, when it has a striking black chest, face and belly. When we see it on its journey south there might still be traces of this black, but by winter it has all gone, and birds look a bit plain and grey. In fact, in some parts of its wide range this species is called a ‘Grey Plover’, but look out for their black ‘wingpits’ when they fly – this will help you clinch the ID.Black-bellied Plovers breed mainly in the Arctic but come south for the winter. They pass through the Caribbean on their way to their wintering areas even further south, although some stay for the winter on our beaches. Scientists have tracked their migration south, and found plovers can fly incredibly long distances over water. One bird made its way all the way from Newfoundland, Canada to the coast of Brazil in a single flight!As birds make their way south in autumn they can mainly be found on mudflats and beaches. Black-bellied Plovers tend to feed ‘alone’ and not in a flock with other Black-bellied Plovers. They feed by sight and can be seen making short runs across the mud, then stopping to pick up a tasty worm, snail, or perhaps a crustacean. Listen for their loud mournful sounding whistling calls. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Black-bellied Plover!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean @WorldShorebirdsDay #WMBD2020Carib #WorldShoreBirdsDay
Listen to the call of the Black-bellied Plover
The Black-bellied Plover’s call is a single plaintive klee and also a klee-a-lee.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Black-bellied Plover with its wings raised showing black ‘wingpits’. This bird is in winter plumage, it has lost the black belly and chest which give it its name and will remain plain grey until spring. When they fly or raise their wings these black patches can help you to identify this species. (Photo by Ray Robles)Black-bellied Plovers make amazing long-distance journeys on migration. The non-stop flight some plovers make of 3200km, from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean, is equivalent to a human of running 4-min miles for 80 hours! (Photo by Ray Robles)
Visit a pond, wetland or nearby beach and see how many different shorebirds and waterbirds you can find and identify. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
Enjoy the two videos below of a Black-bellied Plover in the wild! In the first video, the bird is in its grey winter plumage, feeding on some mud and finding a juicy worm to eat. The second video shows a Black-bellied Plover in the autumn, showing some patches of the black which give it its name. This bird is moulting into winter plumage, when it will become completely pale on its chest and belly by winter.
Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.
In 2014, BirdsCaribbean forged an exciting partnership with Carefree Birding, a group of fun and relaxed birders that offer unique birding trips for cruise line passengers. Carefree Birding has developed opportunities for passengers to observe native birds and wildlife while experiencing all the fun and relaxation of cruising.
Owners Ken Burgener and Linda Warschauer are the hosts on each cruise, and their Carefree Birding concept looks something like this:
“Board cruise ship, unpack gear, get a full night’s sleep, disembark when the ship reaches port, spend no more than five or six hours birding, return to ship and relax, meet to discuss the following day’s excursions, have dinner with other birders, repeat next day.” (2013 Porthole Cruise Magazine)
On select cruises, expert birding guides are invited to join the group. Carefree Birding, with the help of local environmental organizations, arranges birding field trips at each port of call. 100% of the money collected for the tours is routed directly to these local groups. The excursions are slow paced, short, physically easy, and fun-filled.
Carefree Birding owner, Ken Burgener, having a lot of fun “on the job” with Adams Toussaint, local birding guide on St. Lucia. (photo by Carefree Birding)
BirdsCaribbean recently conducted an interview with Ken and Linda about their company’s plans for launching their first birding cruise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us for a conversation on what the cruise will entail, and whether or not it’s a good fit for you!
BirdsCaribbean: We are betting that Carefree Birding is excited to start making plans for 2021, after a very quiet and challenging year for your business. Tell us about the trip that you have slated for next March?
Carefree Birding: Yes—we are very excited to get back out on the water in March of 2021, following strict safety guidelines of course. As you can imagine, with the shutdown of the cruise line industry, we are holding our breath. We have been very lucky as we did not have any cruises planned until Feb 2021. We did have to cut this year’s Peru trip in March a week short (though we did finish our Amazon Cruise), but we all got back safe and sound. The March 2021 trip will be aboard the Celebrity Reflection, departing out of and returning to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The 11-night cruise will visit the islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and Grand Cayman with a stop in the South American city of Cartagena, Colombia.
One of the best aspects of going on a Carefree Birding cruise is the great people that you get to meet along the way. Not only will you get to know your fellow birders, but we also work with some of the best guides in the Caribbean. Since teaming up with BirdsCaribbean (BC), we have been introduced to an entirely new suite of local birding talent, several of them trained in BirdsCaribbean’s Guide Training Program, as part of the Caribbean Birding Trail initiative. We are always excited to reconnect with our skilled and personable bird guides each time we go back to their islands. And thanks to these new relationships, we have also been able to expand our itineraries.
During our time on the Celebrity Reflection, we will have group meetings during our days out at sea. We take advantage of this sailing time to show you short presentations on the destinations coming up next, as well as videos and photos of the birds we hope to see there. And if you so desire, you can eat with the group during dinner where we have tables reserved. We have selected an area off the main dining room, where it is much quieter and easier to talk. We suggest that you sit with different people in our group during the evening meal, that way you can meet more people and learn about their birding experiences. Remember this is Carefree, so if you have other plans no problem!
Carefree Birding group in Barbados, with expert local guide, John Webster (far left). (photo by Carefree Birding)
BirdsCaribbean: This sounds excellent. You mentioned safety guidelines. What will 2021 look like in terms of cruise ship safety precautions?
Carefree Birding: We are hoping that the cruise industry is on stable grounds (make that stable water!) and it will be safe for all the passengers and the crews around the world. Celebrity Cruises has developed a Healthy Sail Panel—11 expert doctors, scientists, and health specialists—that will be guiding our way to safely cruising the new world. As things change, these top medical and science experts will make sure that we and the staff on the ship stay safe. They know that for the boat to continue sailing, protocols need to prioritize safety, and they will do whatever it takes to ensure our health, even if that means canceling the cruise.
BirdsCaribbean: It sounds like Celebrity Cruises has a good plan in place. However, if the Caribbean islands are not ready to receive tourism by that time, what will happen?
Carefree Birding: If the cruise cannot be safely done, Celebrity Cruises will cancel with 100% money reimbursed or put on deposit for any cruise with them in the future. Our travel agent—Travel Services—will take care of your booking and explain your options with the cruise line. Carefree Birding only collects money for your Birding Package, which consists of the shore excursions and our administration fees. If the cruise is canceled we will refund all of your Birding Package money.
BirdsCaribbean: And what if the trip is deemed safe, but an already signed-up passenger doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea any more?
Carefree Birding: No problem at all, Carefree Birding will accept cancellations—no questions asked—up until 30 days of departure, with 100% of your Birding Package money reimbursed. We don’t want to pressure anyone. Currently, when you put a deposit down for your cabin onboard the Celebrity Reflection ($900), that deposit is totally refundable up until the moment you complete your final payment for your cruise cabin. If you have paid the final payment, Travel Services will inform you with the most up-to-date information about their cancellation and refund policy with Celebrity.
White-cheeked Pintail in St. Martin. This is an endemic subspecies in the Caribbean (Anas bahamensis bahamensis). (photo by Binkie van Es)
BirdsCaribbean: We are sure that a lot of people will be put at ease knowing that all of these safeguards and money-back guarantees have been put in place. So, can you tell us a bit more about the fun that awaits?
Carefree Birding: Absolutely! Imagine getting off the cruise ship with our small birding group and having a local islander come to personally pick us up and guide us around their home island for several hours! Not only does the guide know the local birds and birding hotspots really well, we get to learn about local history. The guides enjoy answering questions about life on their island. Our group comes away knowing more about the islands and their culture and people. This is a great way to make new friends throughout the Caribbean.
BirdsCaribbean: Sounds like a perfect way to connect with the local culture and birds in a sustainable and respectful way. And it also sounds like an island experience that nobody else on that cruise will get!
Carefree Birding: You got it—that’s the spirit of Carefree Birding! By using local guides, our birders get to experience the real island, and visit more “off the beaten path” sites. And of course the birding experience is excellent: small groups, lots of one-on-one interaction with the guide, and a built-in flexibility to go wherever the best birds are that day—not where they were three weeks ago. As you know, birds can and do move a lot, but our guides scope out the best spots the days just before we arrive. We have gone to private houses and farms, where the birds are thriving, and often observe many other types of wildlife. Ever been birding on a goat farm? Been there done that! How about on an almost deserted beach, with a cold drink in your hand? If not for our local guides, we never would have access to such unique experiences. Once a guide even arranged to have a private Portajohn sent out to the beach where we were birding. Talk about personal service!
Carefree Birding embraces the local culture (including local transportation) at every port-of-call. It’s all about having fun, meeting new people, seeing some great birds, and supporting smaller towns and businesses along the way. (photo by Carefree Birding)
BirdsCaribbean: Your trips sound amazing. How does someone go about signing up, and are there any restrictions?
Carefree Birding: Anyone on the cruise is welcome to sign up for a Carefree Birding trip. If you have a SOB (Spouse of Birder), they can also come on the cruise for the same price, and they do not have to pay the Birding Package with Carefree Birding. They will also be able to eat with us and enjoy a great cruise while you are away looking at birds. We can help you get set up for both the cruise and our birding trips. Please reach out to us [Ken and Linda] at: carefreebirding@aol.com, 954-766-2919
After you visit our website, go to the registration page, fill out the big yellow box at the bottom of the page and send it. Travel Services will contact you and help book your cruise. Travel Services helps you select the type of cabin, and answer any of the other important questions you might have about the cruise and how to book it. Ken and Linda will answer any questions about the field trips, and any other non-ship questions. Booking the cruise seems to be the hardest part of the entire trip. Once you get on the ship, all is well!!! Carefree Birding will send you tips on how to get ready for the cruise.
We have done over 40 cruises, and we can’t wait for the next one! Join us!
A Carefree Birding group enjoys spotting waterbirds in beautiful Sint Maarten / St. Martin with Binkie van Es, BirdsCaribbean member and Caribbean Birding Trail trained guide. (photo by Carefree Birding)Hudsonian Godwit — one of the many migratory shorebirds you can see in the Caribbean. (photo by Binkie van Es)
It was a bit of a gamble. The speakers were all ready to speak. The agenda was set.
But…would anyone show up?
Well, they did, in the thousands. The North American Ornithological Conference (NAOC) 2020, originally scheduled to take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico from August 10 to 15, had switched gears. It took the brave decision to go virtual in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a tremendous, complex undertaking – and the organizers pulled it off, in style. Hundreds of live, oral presentations took place in general sessions and in symposia, while 80 “lightning talks” and 3 minute poster presentations added excitement. Round tables, workshops and networking opportunities were all well attended by participants from far and wide, under the appropriate theme: “Flight paths addressing global challenges.”
The Caribbean Presence: Island Treasures
NAOC 2020 commented on its website: “The virtual format of the conference attracted particularly high attendance from students and colleagues in Mexico, Central and South America, and Caribbean countries.” In total, nearly 3,000 attended the conference from countries as far-flung as Australia and China.
BirdsCaribbean hosted a symposium called “Island Treasures: Lessons learned from 30 years of avian research, education, and conservation,” which drew a substantial audience from the region and beyond. Sixteen outstanding presentations showcased the exciting conservation work being carried out across the islands, ranging from restoration of key habitats to saving endangered species to wildlife trafficking (see list of talks and presenters in the image gallery below). We had a stimulating panel discussion at the end of the symposia where presenters answered questions from the audience and shared their opinions and expertise on a range of challenging conservation issues.
Island Treasures Symposium Panel discussion on Zoom at the end of the Symposium where presenters answered questions from the audience and shared their opinions on conservation challenges facing the Caribbean region.
An additional symposium organized by Dr. Joseph M. Wunderle, Jr. (the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology) focused on the impact of hurricanes on birds called “Birds and hurricanes: effects, responses, resilience, and conservation.”
If you missed the conference or wish to view any of the talks in the above symposia, stay tuned, we will be posting the presentations on our YouTube channel!
The Socializing Side: Virtual Cocktails or a Cup of Tea
The “Caribbean Meet and Greet” session on August 12 was a resounding success. Around sixty guests gathered, cocktails in hand (or in some cases a cup of tea), to chat and get to know each other. It was a time to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones. We answered fun trivia questions about Caribbean birds and gathered in smaller chat rooms for 10 minutes at a time for more intimate chats.
BirdsCaribbean Meet and Greet – some of the folks that stopped by for our Zoom cocktail hour. It was great fun to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones!
Of course, there was no final banquet – and was it really necessary, one participant wondered, when one could just go to the kitchen and fix oneself a peanut butter sandwich? Perhaps virtual banquet menus could be submitted next time, she suggested.
Could Virtual Conferencing be the Way of the Future?
Conference goers, including BirdsCaribbean members and partners, were impressed not only by the quality of the presentations, but also by the fact that the technology smoothly facilitated them. For some, like conservation ecologist Ann Sutton Haynes in Jamaica, it was a new experience:
“This was my first experience of an online conference and I was surprised how well it went. The good things were the low cost, the flexibility to attend when it was convenient and even the online questions and responses went well. There was even a weird pleasure in attending real time sessions…If it’s affordable I think it would be great if all our conferences in future could be both in person and virtual.”
Science Officer at the Bahamas National Trust Scott Johnson was also enthusiastic about the benefits of virtual conferencing:
“My experience participating in the NAOC online symposium was most enjoyable. I had the opportunity to meet up with old friends and some of my mentors as well as listen to some amazing talks including bird smuggling, hurricanes and its effects on birds, and more. I think this is a great alternative to expensive travelling and the logistics associated with it and would like for an online conference like this to continue moving forward.”
Scott Johnson (bottom), Science Officer at the Bahamas National Trust, talking with 2 fellow panelists, Stephen Durand (left), Forestry Officer, Dominica, and Dr. Ancilleno Davis (right), Science and Perspective, at the BirdsCaribbean Island Treasures Symposium.
Biologist Quincy Augustine, staff at the Windward Islands Research & Education Foundation (WINDREF), St. George’s University in Grenada was also pleased with his experience:
“Despite the unforeseen challenges we are currently experiencing, I must commend the organizers for putting together such a great conference – hats off to you! It was one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended with a twist and additional perks – could you imagine what it would have been like if this conference was face to face! The topics, presentations, and the opportunity to build a network are so needed, especially for researchers like myself.”
A Key Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
Colombian ornithologist and Professor Andres Cuervo stressed the significance of the conference, enthusing on the conference Slack channel: “I want to highlight the diversity, quality, and great composition of the keynote plenary speakers of NAOC 2020. I’ve loved every single one of them, and they have been so different in approaches and people. Thank you for that. Today’s Daniel Cadena’s plenary was truly outstanding. His closing remarks are important messages for ornithology and for this meeting.”
Diversity and inclusion was a particularly important aspect of the conference for BirdsCaribbean. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee – including BirdsCaribbean’s Jessica Cañizares and Environment of the Americas’ Sheylda DÍaz-Méndez – worked hard to help “increase the awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in ornithology and to help cultivate an ornithological community that is committed to the recruitment, retention, and support of all of its members at and beyond NAOC 2020.”
Participants also expressed appreciation for the English and Spanish translations and subtitles in presentations. The organizers were pleased to note: “Many people who would not otherwise have been able to attend were able to do so, due to a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation and sponsorships from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and other partnering organizations, through generous underwriting for free registration for students and greatly reduced registration fees for everyone else.” BirdsCaribbean thanks the US Forest Service International Programs for providing scholarships for Caribbean nationals to attend the conference.
Hope for the Future…and Trinidad?
Social media and our @BirdsCaribbean twitter feed were hoppin’ during the 5 days of the conference as people shared what they were learning. #NAOC2020
BirdsCaribbean Executive Director Lisa Sorenson concluded that the online event filled her with optimism.
“We were thrilled to make such a substantial contribution to what is one of the largest ornithological conferences in the world,” she noted. “We were happy with the positive feedback we have received; this encourages us and our partners, who are doing really worthwhile and inspiring work in the region.”
“Yes, challenges and threats are unrelenting, but we have many more active projects, with people and partners working on research, monitoring, engaging with the public to change the culture, and carrying out successful conservation initiatives to save and restore species and habitats.”
Registered attendees will have access to all recorded presentations through the EventPilot app through Wednesday, September 9.
Meanwhile, we are keeping our fingers crossed for our planned International Conference in Trinidad. We hope to see all our friends and collaborators, old and new, in late July 2021! If you are a new friend of BirdsCaribbean, don’t forget to sign up to our monthly newsletter here for further updates.
BirdsCaribbean was one of nine partner organizations hosting the NAOC 2020 Conference. We thank the US Forest Service International Programs and other sponsors for providing generous support to allow our Caribbean delegates and others to attend the virtual conference at no cost or a reduced fee. #NAOC2020
The gallery below shows the 16 presentations in our Island Treasures Symposium. No worries if you missed the talks, we will be uploading them to our YouTube Channel.
BirdsCaribbean Meet and Greet – more of the folks that stopped by for our Zoom cocktail hour. It was great fun to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones!
BirdsCaribbean is expressing deep concern over three areas of Grenada — critical bird habitats and ecosystems — that are now being damaged from development: Mt. Hartman, La Sagesse, and Levera. This includes the island’s only Ramsar site (Levera) and other wetland and forest areas harboring a wide variety of wildlife, including endangered species of sea turtles, and the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove.
Projects underway in these three areas include large resorts, a marina, waterpark, and golf course, all of which will have wide-ranging and permanent negative consequences on the local ecosystems.
BirdsCaribbean is calling for the immediate cessation of destructive activities, pending the completion of proper Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and approvals, mitigation plans, and full and transparent consultations with stakeholders. See links below for how you can help.
Wilson’s Plover (female) at Mt. Hartman wetland in Grenada. It is one of many species of resident and migratory waterbirds and shorebirds that depend on Grenada’s wetlands (including beaches, mangroves, salt ponds ,and mud flats) as breeding and wintering habitat. This species is resident in Grenada and breeds here at the Mt. Hartman wetlands. (photo by Gregg Homel).
BirdsCaribbean’s Executive Director Lisa Sorenson urges Grenada not to destroy or damage its last remaining wetlands. “Not only are these significant habitats for many vulnerable species of birds and endangered wildlife, wetland areas perform myriad important ecosystem services that improve the safety and health of local communities. These services are increasingly important and economically valuable in the face of climate change.”
Sorenson notes that Grenada is a leader for environmental conservation. It has recently embraced the concept of the “Blue Economy.” In 2013, Grenada went beyond its Caribbean neighbors’ commitments, pledging to protect 25% of its near-shore marine and coastal environment by 2020 under the Caribbean Challenge Initiative signed in 2013. Sadly, these developments and the failure to designate a majority of the protected areas proposed under its Protected Areas Systems Plan, make it increasingly unlikely that Grenada can meet its international obligations and national targets.
Sorenson pointed out that it appears that vegetation has been removed before an approved EIA/plan for all three projects, which would be in direct violation of Grenada’s Physical Planning Act of 2016. Moreover, the developments and the way they are being carried out does not seem consistent with Grenada’s own Blue Growth Coastal Master Plan, whose Guiding Principles and Goals call for Sustainability, the Precautionary Principle, Good Governance, and Equity.
We stand with our local partners and call for action from the leaders of Grenada’s government to protect Grenada’s invaluable natural assets from destruction. You can help – SIGN THE PETITION HERE and see more ways to help below.
Map of Grenada showing National Parks and Protected Areas and the locations of the 3 developments at Levera, La Sagesse and Mt. Hartman. (note that not all protected areas in Grenada are included on this map).
Local conservation groups and partners of BirdsCaribbean in Grenada are alarmed at the recent deforestation of these areas. Jane Nurse of the Grenada Land Actors Platform (GLAP) commented: “We have engaged with decision makers, including the developers and the Physical Planning Unit, but have encountered mostly disappointing negligence. In rectification, we demand that our communities and civil society are consulted before development projects of such a scale are undertaken.”
Other members of the GLAP questioned whether Grenada could accommodate these mega-projects, from water, sewerage, and solid waste treatment, to road infrastructure and airlift, particularly at a time when the world is heading towards one of its biggest recessions. Jody Daniel-Simon of Gaea Conservation Network added: “There are numerous examples of our lands being cleared with no considerations of the ecological impacts; sadly, many of these projects fail because of insufficient funds, leaving behind them only a trail of debts and destruction.”
Mt. Hartman: Last Refuge for the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove and Vital Wetlands
In the Mt. Hartman Estate, dry forest habitat is in the process of being cleared for a new resort and marina that will be developed by the Hartman Resort Group Ltd (formerly Grenada Resort Complex LTD); this Chinese company now owns the property. Communications with the Grenadian Government’s Physical Planning Unit indicate that they are apparently unaware of the project and have not given any permission. There is no known EIA in progress.
The Mt. Hartman National Park was set up to protect habitat crucial to the survival of one of the rarest birds in the world, the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove, unique to Grenada. So special is the dove (there are only about 110 adults remaining) that it is recognized as Grenada’s National Bird. Over 90 other bird species have been recorded throughout the area, including the Grenada Hook-billed Kite, an Endangered subspecies, also endemic to Grenada.
The Grenada Dove on its nest at Mt Hartman. The Grenada Dove is a Critically Endangered species endemic to Grenada. The Mt. Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary were set up to protect the dove. The development is adjacent to the park. Without careful mitigation, the long-term survival of the dove is in jeopardy. (photo by Greg Homel)
Although the development falls just outside the National Park, it will be directly adjacent to it. Grenada Dove Biologist, Bonnie Rusk, indicated: “Development that is not done carefully, with sufficient mitigation to support the site’s ecosystem and species, will significantly impact the National Park and the purpose for which it was established—the conservation of the Grenada Dove.”
With its unique dry coastal scrub ecosystem and associated biodiversity, Mt. Hartman is internationally recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and as an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) of the Lesser Antilles by BirdLife International, the world leader in bird conservation, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
The Mt. Hartman Estate also encompasses the largest expanse of black mangroves on the island, as well as red mangroves, providing an important “nursery” for fisheries stock to the Woburn fishing community. The mangroves and wetlands act as a buffer zone for land-based pollution, and a natural filter for water. Mangroves have repeatedly been shown to provide protection from storms, hurricanes, and floods. The two wetlands provide critical habitat for numerous species of resident and migratory shorebirds and waterbirds, including many species of conservation concern.
Mt. Hartman wetlands in June 2014 (left; photo by Greg Homel) before vegetation was cleared for Grenada Resorts (2015) and Mt. Hartman Resorts Group (2020). Mt. Hartman wetlands in August 2020 (right; photo by Reginald Joseph), following the removal of dry scrub and mangrove forests without the knowledge of the Physical Planning Unit.
An artistic rendition for the resort (see image below) shows that one of the two vital wetlands and the adjacent mangrove in the Mt. Hartman Estate will be destroyed to create a Marina in Secret Harbor; the other one will be severely impacted by the development. “We successfully protected these wetlands from prior proposed developments,” commented Dr. Sorenson. “It would be a sad loss for one of Grenada’s last remaining wetlands to be destroyed. It is difficult to understand how this can happen when the Government has pledged to protect its vital coastal resources for the benefit of the Grenadian people.”
Artist rendition of the Mt. Hartman resort development and marina within the Mt Hartman Estate. The development is adjacent to the Mt. Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary, which was established to protect this Critically Endangered endemic species. Grenada Doves also live in the Mt. Hartman Estate where the development is taking place. One of the wetlands will be completely destroyed for the marina. This is inconsistent with Grenada’s pledge to protect 25% of it marine and terrestrial environment.
La Sagesse: Destruction of Habitat for Endangered Turtles (Six Senses/Range Developments)
At La Sagesse—listed as a Natural Landmark and Area of Cultural and Historical Interest—there has been extensive clearcutting of mangroves and other vegetation on the headland and around the salt pond, to build the 100-room, Six Senses Resort (tagline “Sustainable is not something we do; it is who we are”). Permission to do the clearing was given by the Physical Planning Unit. Phase II, separate from the Six Senses Resort, adds a 185-room Luxury Hotel, catering to families. Both projects are managed by Range Developments through the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.
La Sagesse Pond in May 2019 (left), before the Six Senses Resort and Luxury Hotel development plan was approved. La Sagesse Pond in August 2020 (right), four months after there was extensive clear cutting and bulldozing to accommodate the first phase of construction (photos by Reginald Joseph).
While the EIA and project plan have been approved, only one Town Hall style community meeting was held last week after clearing had already taken place, contrary to the recommendations made in the EIA. Further consultations with the local community are apparently in the works following public outcry. Following a review of the EIA and development plans by scientists from Gaea Conservation Network, the developers have since promised to work with them to develop a mangrove and pond restoration plan; they also claim to have harvested mangrove propagules for restoration purposes. In their 9-page review, Gaea Conservation Network highlighted a litany of environmental concerns that should have been addressed in the EIA, based on the Terms of Reference provided by the developer.
Photo showing the complete deforestation around the La Sagesse Salt Pond this spring. (photo by Reginald Joseph)
Before the extensive clear cutting, La Sagesse Pond supported white and buttonwood mangrove, providing cover for Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtles. It is also a nesting site for the Endangered leatherback turtle. A diverse array of some 89 bird species attracts birding tours to this site. Under an older National Parks and Protected Areas plan, the area was proposed as a Protected Seascape due to its outstanding features including a mangrove estuary, salt pond, 3 beautiful beaches, interesting geological formations, coral reefs, and excellent examples of littoral woodland and thorn scrub cactus woodland.
Levera: Grenada’s Large, Highly Diverse Wetland of International Importance
The Levera Wetland is Grenada’s only Ramsar site, designated as a Wetland of International Importance on May 22, 2012. Despite an EIA still being under way, forest has already been removed to build temporary housing for a one billion dollar resort, to be constructed under the CBI programme by the Singapore Heng Sheng (Grenada) Development PTE LTD company, who now owns the property. The mega-resort will include a water park, golf course, villas, and 500-room hotels (see artistic renditions of the development in the gallery below).
As a Contracting Party of the Ramsar Convention, Grenada has agreed to the wise use of its wetlands. Ramsar describes “wise use” as the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and all the services they provide, for the benefit of people and nature.
The over 500-hectare highly productive ecosystem includes a variety of habitats: woodland, dry scrub forest, mangrove wetlands, beach, brackish pond, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Surrounded by red, white, black and buttonwood mangroves, the large freshwater pond and beach area boast a large diversity of birds, with over 85 species documented on eBird Caribbean from 2006 to date. The site is also a critical area for the survival of the Grenada Hook-billed Kite, an Endangered sub-species endemic to Grenada.
Leatherback sea turtle (an Endangered species) returning to the ocean after laying eggs on the Levera Beach. (photo by Kate Charles, Ocean Spirits)
Moreover, Levera is a critical habitat for numerous species of mammals, snakes and fish. The beach is the third largest nesting site for Endangered leatherback sea turtles in the Caribbean, with 600–1400 nesting activities recorded annually, according to Ocean Spirits (a local sea turtle NGO). Offshore, there are important foraging grounds for Endangered green sea turtles and Critically Endangered hawksbill sea turtles, as well as Critically Endangered elkhorn coral colonies growing in shallow waters close to the coastline.
Although the area is used by local fishermen and Grenadians for recreational purposes, there has been very little consultation with the community and no modification of the plans to address environmental and social concerns. Notably, a recent survey of stakeholders done in 2016 in the communities in and around Levera suggests that less than 15% of individuals support hotel development. More than two-thirds support the establishment of a National Park and Recreational Area and have suggestions for how they would like to see their community involved through a “co-management” approach.
It is unclear if the current deforestation—including for the purpose of building migrant workers’ barracks—was approved by the Physical Planning Unit, or whether an EIA has been undertaken for this development. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that funds for the Levera project have been grossly mismanaged in the past. (see here, here, here, and here). The development company’s website shares information on the Grenada Levera project from the home page, including a short video regarding the vision for this area (see photos in the gallery below) and how one can invest in the project through the CBI (Citizenship By Investment) programme.
Levera Pond in June 2019 before (left; photo by Reginald Joseph) permission was granted by the Physical Planning Unit to clear vegetation. Levera Pond in August 2020 (right; photo by Orlando Romain) after temporary housing and storage containers were built for migrant workers to build the mega-resort, which will include a water park, golf course, villas, and 500 room hotels. Based on a recent survey of stakeholders in the communities in and around Levera, more than two thirds of community persons would prefer that this area is established as a National Park and Recreational Area – only 15% support hotel development.
Protect Grenada from Destructive Land Development – Final Thoughts
We must prevent future generations from wondering how Grenada managed to destroy so much of its natural habitat, a precious resource in which man and nature should exist in harmony. It’s not too late to put a stop to these developments, which are already having a significant damaging effect on the environment. Tourism is a key element of Grenada’s economy, but any new developments must take place within the context of true sustainability and sensitivity to these fragile ecosystems and the needs of local Grenadians.
In an online opinion piece dated August 25, 2020 in NowGrenada, S. Brian Samuel observes: “Naturally, tourism must play a central role in the regeneration of the Grenadian economy, but the crucial question is: What kind of tourism? You can’t fit square pegs into round holes; a country’s tourism strategy has to gel with its natural and human attributes.”
Local economies are best protected by protecting nature. We stand with our local partners and call on the Government of Grenada to immediately cease destructive activities at these sites and plan a way forward that protects Grenada’s natural assets for generations to come.
Note: After signing this petition, change.org will ask for a donation – this is inherent functionality of change.org petitions. The donations are used by change.org as payment to boost the petition, and it is not possible to remove this feature from the petition. All donations go to change.org and not the Grenada Land Actors Platform (consortium of concerned local citizens and groups) – we do apologize for this, and are working on a way for people that wish to do so to support the cause in Grenada directly through donations as well as signing the petition.
Artist renditions of the 3 developments are shown in the gallery below.
Artist rendition of the Six Senses La Sagesse Resort.
Artist rendition of the Mt Hartman resort development and marina. The development is adjacent to the Mt Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary, which was established to protect the Critically Endangered endemic species. Grenada Doves also occur in the Mt Hartman Estate where the development is taking place.
Artist rendition of the Mt Hartman resort development and marina. The development is adjacent to the Mt Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary, which was established to protect the Critically Endangered endemic species. Grenada Doves also occur in the Mt Hartman Estate where the development is taking place.
Artist rendition of the Mt Hartman resort development and marina. The development is adjacent to the Mt Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary, which was established to protect the Critically Endangered endemic species. Grenada Doves also occur in the Mt Hartman Estate where the development is taking place.
Artist rendition of the Lavera Resort development. The resort includes a waterpark, golf course and 500 room hotel.
Artist rendition of the Lavera Resort development. The resort includes a waterpark, golf course and 500 room hotel.
Artist rendition of the Lavera Resort development. The resort includes a waterpark, golf course and 500 room hotel.
A sample of the beauty and biodiversity of Grenada at the 3 sites is shown in the gallery below.
Adult Eared Dove with chick in Grenada – Mt. Hartman Estate. (Photo by Greg Homel)
Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Grenada race. Note the crest and yellow belly. (photo by Greg Homel).
Billboard at a parish boundary advertising the Mt Hartman National Park. (Billboard design by Madelaine Smith, photo by Greg Homel/Natural Encounters)
Grenada Dove at Mt. Hartman – Grenada’s National Bird and found only in Grenada at 2 locations. It is Critically Endangered one of the rarest birds in the world (photo by Greg Homel)
A huge diversity of waterbirds and shorebirds call the Mt. Hartman wetlands home, including both resident and migratory species. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
White-rumped Sandpiper, one of the many species of migratory shorebirds that relies on Grenada’s wetlands as wintering habitat. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
A huge diversity of waterbirds and shorebirds call the Mt. Hartman wetlands home, including both resident and migratory species. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Aerial view of the Mt. Hartman Estate during the dry season. You can see the 2 salt ponds – the extensive mangrove vegetation is green year-round. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
A huge diversity of waterbirds and shorebirds call the Mt. Hartman wetlands home, including both resident and migratory species. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Grenadians that participate in BirdsCaribbean Bird Guide Training Workshop in 2013 practice identifying shorebirds on La Sagesse Beach. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training Workshop in 2013 – a group of Grenadians received a week-long training all about birds, birding, the bird tourism market, and how to be a guide. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Blowhole at Levera Beach. (photo by Ted Eubanks)
Levera Boardwalk and observation tower at Levera Pond and Ramsar site. (photo by Ted Eubanks)
Levera Pond, Wetland of International Importance and Grenada’s only Ramsar site. Sadly, this pond will be severely impacted by the resort development.
Male Hook-billed Kites tend to be a solid bluish-gray color on their heads and backs, while their breasts are grayish and adorned with pale streaking in horizontal bars. (Photo by Andrea Easter-Pilcher)
Grenada’s endemic subspecies of the Hook-billed Kite is considered to be Endangered. (Photo by Andrea Easter-Pilcher)
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, an endemic bird to the Lesser Antilles. (Photo by Ted Eubanks).
A Grenada Hook-billed Kite chick. Female and male Hook-billed Kites work together to build their nests, which are shallow and cup-shaped and built from small twigs and sticks.
Grenada Hook-billed Kite, an endemic sub-species only found in Grenada.
Red Mangrove prop roots protect the coastline and property from flooding and damage from severe storms and hurricanes, which are increasing with climate change. (photo by Greg Homel).
Mt. Hartman National Park and Dove Sanctuary Visitors Centre and bird sign. (photo by Greg Homel)
Pneumatophores or “breathing roots” of the Black Mangrove at Mt. Hartman wetlands. Mangroves help reduce climate change by absorbing carbon. They also protect coastal areas from storms and flooding. (photo by Ted Eubanks)
Leatherback turtle hatchling at Levera Beach, making its way to the ocean. (photo by Kate Charles, Ocean Spirits)
Caribbean Bird ID Monitoring at Flickr
Stilt Sandpipers are one of many species of migratory shorebirds that rely on Grenada’s wetlands as a winter home. (photo by Lisa Sorenson)
Stilt Sandpipers
September is right around the corner and migratory birds are making their way south. World Shorebirds Day 2020 is Sunday, September 6th and we need your help to count Caribbean shorebirds at your favorite birding spot (or spots)!
This year’s Global Shorebird Count will take place from September 3 to 9, 2020. All across the Caribbean, birders will be compiling checklists from island to island and recording them on eBird Caribbean. Our migratory shorebirds are more vulnerable than ever, threatened by human activities that have changed or destroyed their habitat. Most species of shorebirds are in decline around the world.
Where are these fascinating birds to be found? While you will find them on shores and beaches, some shorebirds use habitats further inland, including freshwater and brackish marshes and ponds. Shorebirds are also fond of salt ponds, mud flats, mangrove areas, and tidal flats.
eBird Caribbean is a critical tool for tracking and understanding bird migration and population changes – never more so than for our shorebirds. If you do not have an account, it is easy to register – here’s a quick guide to enter eBird data online. There is even a free eBird Essentials course to get you fully oriented. Download the free mobile app for recording your data in the field.
The top 25 countries participating in the Global Shorebird Count 2014-2019.
Your checklists matter! We are so excited that of the top 25 countries around the world participating in the Global Shorebird Count from 2014-2019, the Caribbean was listed three times. Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Barbados – keep up the good work. Let’s see if we can add any other Caribbean islands to the list!
These three locations were certainly not the only areas in the region to participate. Islands from The Bahamas down to Trinidad joined in to count shorebirds with checklists from 19 islands/nations.
Make Your Shorebirds Count—Submit & Share Your Data!
To make your submitted data visible to World Shorebirds Day, please be sure to share your checklist with worldshorebirdsday eBird username of World Shorebirds Day, or add shorebirdsday@gmail.com email address, to your contact list, and share all your related checklists. Only checklists made during the World Shorebirds Day count period between 3–9 September 2019 (inclusive) are eligible. Guidelines for sharing eBird checklists are here.
We hope you will visit as many sites as possible during the 6 days of the count! For more tips on how to do the Global Shorebird Count, go to the World Shorebirds Day website.
Shorebird ID Resources
Need a quick reference for a shorebird you spotted? Or an educational resource for your school or office? Download the pdf of our Quick ID Guide to Common Shorebirds of the Caribbeanhere. For use in the field, print on cardstock and laminate.
Also, check out our Common Shorebirds of the Caribbean poster, which is available in English, Spanish, and French. Download them from this page.
We also have available a two-page Common Shorebirds of the Caribbean ID Guide – you can download it here. All these ID resources work well in the entire Atlantic Flyway, not just the Caribbean islands.
Count Shorebirds & Stay Healthy
In these extraordinary times, we are still trying to get back to some sort new normal. However, in many countries, it is still not possible to do so. Participants of the World Shorebirds Day and the Global Shorebird Count should check their national guidelines to make sure their activities are in compliance with local health recommendations. Please take all the necessary precautions and stay safe, wherever you are!
What To Do if You See Banded Birds
Be sure to be on the lookout for banded birds! Especially Piping Plovers, Red Knots, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings. You may report your sightings to BandedBirds.org and the USGS Bird Banding Lab which oversee all banding in the United States.
Handout from the US Fish and Wildlife Service that provides information about Piping Plover banding locations and how to read the flags.
Wilson’s Plovers are one of the many shorebird species found in the Caribbean. (Photo by Hemant Kishan)
On 1 August, BirdsCaribbean (BC) opened the Call for Nominations for our Board elections. The nomination period will stay open for two months in total, closing at midnight 31 September, 2020.
By this time, everyone should be thinking about folks you know that would make a great addition to the BC Board of Directors. Reach out to those people, and ask them if they would be interested in being nominated. We are really looking for a strong pool of nominees to select for candidacy and run for election in November.
We are excited to announce and offer a “Meet the BC Board” Webinar scheduled for 1 September at 1pm EDT. We have created this webinar as an opportunity for ANYONE to learn more about our organization, what the BC Board of Directors does, and who we are looking for to fill our soon-to-be vacant seats! Our current as well as some past Board members will be hosting the event, and are excited to interact with you and answer any questions you might have. We will be ready to divide our attendees into breakout rooms so that we can ensure small, more personable conversations, and that all of your questions get answered.
Please add this event to your calendars, and register to join us on Zoom using the following link:
Serving on the BirdsCaribbean Board of Directors is a fantastic opportunity to help shape the future of an organization dedicated to conserving the region’s incredible birds and nature. We are a vibrant network and work with many partners throughout the region, including governments, NGOs, educators, tourism interests, communities, students, and more. The BirdsCaribbean Board is an extremely personable, inclusive, and enthusiastic group, and we are eager to bring new ideas and backgrounds to our leadership. Without a doubt, serving on our Board is an enriching and rewarding opportunity, and interested individuals should not hesitate to attend this webinar and then pursue a nomination.
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